Five Steps to Writing A Land Acknowledgment
November 26th, 2020
By: Martha Benduski
A land acknowledgment is a written statement that acknowledges the indigenous peoples on whose land you live. Historically, they have been written in countries including Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. They are small, yet powerful statements that recognize and name Indigenous peoples. Land acknowledgments bring Indigenous voices into a historical narrative that previously erased them, and they are a first step in recognizing and honoring the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the land. This guide was written from a non-indigenous perspective. Find more resources about land acknowledgments at the bottom of this guide.
1. Evaluate the Purpose of Your Land Acknowledgement
When writing a land acknowledgment, consider its purpose. Who is the intended audience? What platform are you using to share this information? Most importantly, why are you writing the acknowledgment? What is the intended outcome?
Land acknowledgments should elevate and empower the indigenous peoples you are acknowledging. You do this by highlighting their presence in your local history and vocalizing their current land rights. It should acknowledge the complexity of colonialism, identity, and the removal of indigenous peoples from their homes and history.
Be aware that acknowledgments can be used incorrectly. Often, they perpetuate the inequality of the very indigenous populations you hope to acknowledge. Acknowledgments can come off as disingenuous by seeming to support personal branding or by not performing the due diligence to the native peoples whose land you use. Listen to this short interview to hear about someone who, upon reflection, wishes he could re-write his university’s land acknowledgment and the advice he gives for others.
When deciding to write an acknowledgment make sure it is genuine, honest, and most of all empowering.
2. Ground your Mindset in Honesty, Positivity, and Respect
How do you make sure that your land acknowledgment empowers Indigenous peoples? When writing your statement think about these three ideas: honesty, positivity, and respect. Then when you are done, come back to these and make sure that you incorporated each one in your acknowledgment.
Honesty in a land acknowledgment means talking with and writing the truth. That doesn’t mean just that the statement is historically accurate. It also means facing and embracing racially prejudiced and destructive history. When writing an acknowledgment statement do not shy away from words like silencing, exploitation, subjugation, forced eviction, and genocide. Be honest about what happened and the resulting history you learn.
Positivity means looking forward and focusing on how to empower Indigenous peoples today. A land acknowledgment does not just mean learning about the Indigenous peoples who lived on your land in the past. It also means recognizing that they are still a present part of your home and still have a claim to the land you use today. Learning and highlighting the present is just as important as recognizing the past.
Write a land acknowledgment that respects others and their beliefs. Writing about another culture means that you will likely not understand everything you read and learn. While researching information about the local Indigenous peoples that are in your area, or were removed from the land you now live on, make sure to keep your mind open and respect the traditions, histories, and practices of others.
3. Do Your Research
A poorly researched and written acknowledgment can do more harm than good. If you do not have the time to thoroughly research and learn about the Indigenous peoples who you are trying to acknowledge, perhaps consider another way to show you support Indigenous groups such as a statement committing to empowering a specific local tribe or indigenous-owned organization.
In order to write a land acknowledgment, you need to establish how far in the past you would like to acknowledge, learn about Indigenous peoples currently in your area, and finally research any treaties and policies that affect indigenous rights in your area.
Does acknowledging the land rights of an indigenous civilization that was here 700 years ago make sense for your statement? How about 200 years ago? The historical context is extremely different between the two time periods, with one group potentially being an ancestor of a group that was removed by colonialism. Learning the context and history of different Indigenous civilizations and groups can help you determine how far in the past you want to acknowledge.
Who has current rights to your land? Some Indigenous peoples are still inhabiting local land and/or consider your land actively part of their territory. Learn about active local Indigenous communities. Many have websites that have ways in which you can contribute to their communities in meaningful ways.
Some areas have active treaties with Indigenous populations. These treaties likely have been fulfilled by the original signers and have been silenced within a historical context. Learn about previous treaties in your area, active and inactive. These can also give you ideas on how to empower current groups in your area.
When researching land acknowledgments you’ll need to know three key pieces: who are you acknowledging in the past and present, what is their history, and what treaties and/or policies currently and used to exist.
4. Write Your Acknowledge Focusing on Past, Present, and Future
There is no template that will fit every statement. Below are some ways to get you started on your land acknowledgment. However, feel free to step out of these templates and write an acknowledgment that demonstrates your personal connection to the land and the Indigenous peoples who have similar connections. Remember when writing to be honest, positive, and respectful.
Start with the past and acknowledge those who have come before and the hardship they may have faced. Then write about the present: who still has a claim to this land. In either of these sections talk about any treaties that existed in the past or still exist today. Finally, include an action that you can do in the future to continue to empower indigenous peoples.
When writing your statement consider whether you are in a privileged space. In some cases, acknowledgments do not need to have action items attached because the people writing the statement do not have access to resources. However, if you are writing for an organization, such as a university, you absolutely should include a call to action. The more privileged space the more capacity you have to empower the Indigenous peoples whose land you stand on.
Acknowledgments:
Today I would like to acknowledge the following people whose land we are on today _______. I would like to acknowledge their ancestors _____________ who lived in ________ areas and were ______ (ex: removed from here).
I live on the traditional lands of _______________. (Sentence describing why they no longer live here i.e. were removed by colonialism). ________ have rights to these lands even today.
__________ sits on the original homelands of ______________.
Add an action to empower:
Today we commit to _____ to support _______.
I plan to support _____ initiative to aid the current generation of ___________.
As someone on this land, I am obliged to ______.
5. Check Your Statement
Go through the following questions to ensure that your statement is sensitive, respectful, and empowers indigenous peoples.
1. Have I put at least an hour of research into my land acknowledgment? Do I know enough about the Indigenous people I am speaking about? Did I make sure I am not missing any tribes?
2. Am I honest and open about the history of the Indigenous peoples I am acknowledging? Am I acknowledging their pain? Am I also acknowledging a positive future?
3. Did I acknowledge the past? The present? The future?
4. Did I identify any treaties that were signed in the past and/or are currently in effect?
5. Did I include an action statement that demonstrates the future actions I will do to commit to empower indigenous peoples?
Remember, a land acknowledgment is the first step. A land acknowledgment can increase the visibility of silenced populations. It teaches others about Indigenous land rights and local history. However, I encourage you to find ways that uplift and truly empower the people you are acknowledging. Empower your local Indigenous groups by volunteering with Indigenous organizations, supporting Indigenous-owned businesses, and continue to educate yourself.
A note on terminology: I chose to use the word “Indigenous” because Care About Climate is a global non-profit that works across multiple countries. However, different groups use different words including Native Nation in the United States. So make sure to do your research!
More Resources:
The following resources were used to build this guide. I highly encourage you to read guides written from native perspectives.
Resource to find indigenous people in your area.
Read guides made by Native Nations:
Native Governance Center, native-owned and supports native governments.
Children of the Setting Sun Productions, a native-run organization out of Bellingham, Washington in the USA.
More Reading:
Listen to an interview about the writer of Ryerson University’s land acknowledgment and what he wishes he could do differently.
Native Land resource page.
Canadian article on land acknowledgments from a non-Indigenous perspective.
Example acknowledgments:
Best example: Land acknowledgment example displayed by Duwamish Tribe and made by a local organization.
Northwestern University land acknowledgment, Chicago IL.
US Department of Arts and Culture land acknowledgment guide with art and examples.
[This article was updated in July 2021 to capitalize the word “Indigenous”. This is standard practice in the dictionary/writing style guides to empower groups of people who have been historically oppressed - something I, the author, learned about recently. Please capitalize “Indigenous”!]